Monday, April 12, 2010

CY to the 15-Day

Today we officially placed Chris Young on the 15-Day DL retroactive to April 7 (since he hadn't pitched since April 6). The rule states that a Club can place a player on the DL and back-date the placement up to seven days assuming he has not performed in a game.

Chris felt some discomfort in his shoulder following his six inning performance in Game Two of the season. With our off-days we could have maneuvered our rotation and delayed CY's next start until the weekend, effectively skipping one turn. That was Option #1. Alternatively, we could have a spot starter for just one start, likely on Sunday the 18th, and have an extra person on the team in the meantime. That option also had the additional benefit of being conservative with CY's shoulder so early in the season. With those advantages, Option #2 became the clear choice. Hopefully CY will be back in the rotation in another ten days or so. In the corresponding move, Adam Russell was recalled from Portland.

It's a bit unrelated but I thought I needed to share this with you. I had never been much of a baseball fan my entire life. I'd go to a game every other year or so in the same way people go to movies or the park or the county fair: It was a decent way to spend a summer day. I moved to San Diego a few years ago and went to a Padres game on such a whim. Had a blast at the stadium, got a little into it. Enough so that I thought this might be something worth looking into.

When I start looking into something... when I start poking around the edges to see if it is interesting, the first thing I do is learn as much as I can. it's not enough for me to watch a game and know the rules, I want to know the strategy, the thought behind why they're doing what they're doing... what's more I love the moves that go behind the scenes. I'm a big NFL Draft nerd for example.

I'd never be the fan I've become (12-15 games attended a year, probably close to 100 games watched or listened to a season) had I not discovered this blog. The insight to what is done toward building a team is fascinating. Being a bit of a numbers geek I find the metrics inspired talent farming / evaluation gripping.

You've given me a peek behind the curtain, and it's made a baseball fan out of me. Without the old updates it likely wouldn't have happened. I understand the dearth of updates lately, but I do miss them quite a bit.